The Gilded Lynx

by Leah Erickson

Daphne is a fourteen-year-old girl who leads a life of wealth and privilege but also great loneliness. She is the daughter of the CEO of a biotech mega-company who has gone missing, and a beautiful but failed movie star of a mother. Her wish to escape her little bubble and explore the outside world becomes true when her life gets torn apart in a rash of violent riots and The Sickness, as the downtrodden rise up against the privileged and the dead pile up. Homeless and on the run, she navigates this new world and tries to uncover the true nature of her father’s company. A coming of age story in a dark future. "The Gilded Lynx by Leah Erickson is a breathtaking tale about maturation, civil unrest, and corruption. The author shows us dreamy scenes with abhorrent excess before taking us to the gritty streets. Think of The Secret Garden with rhinestoned gas masks, and you’ll have an accurate idea of The Gilded Linx. It’s lovely in its ugliness." —Mercedes Murdock Yardley, Stoker Award winning author of Little Red Dead, The Darkness Comes, and Pretty Little Dead A Novel of Murder and Whimsy. "It's incredibly smart, accessible...it addresses fascinating issues. Not only issues that are uncommon to young adult fiction, but issues that are rarely discussed in fiction period." --Benoit Lelievre, Dead End Follies

Genres: Fiction

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 2015

About the author

Leah Erickson is the author of the novel "The Brambles" (2017) and the upcoming novel "Blythe of the Gates." She is a gold medal winner of the 2018 Independent Press Award, a gold medal winner of the 2018 Independent Book Award, and a silver medal winner of the Readers' Favorite Award. Her short fiction has appeared in many magazines and journals in print and online, including The Fabulist, Pantheon Magazine, The Saint Ann’s Review, Eclectica, The Coachella Review, and many more. She lives near Newport, Rhode Island with her husband and daughter.

Reviews

[♥ℂĦℝΪՖƬΪℕÅ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Very Disapointed ★'s

I received this Advanced reader's copy of The Guilded Lynx by the publisher for an honest review.

~A coming-of-age in a dark future.~

I was really excited about the chance I got to read The Gilded Lynx after reading the description because it sounded right up my alley. Sadly to say, this was a letdown. Obviously, giving the fact that I'm only giving it 2 stars. I just didn't feel a connection... to anyone. At ALL. Not even the main character Daphne or to the story. There was no real romance between anyone or any real friendships. The things that make stories great and worthwhile in my opinion. I didn't feel heartbroken at any point. No tears, nothing! It was very underwhelming and I just had such a disconnect to this entire book.

A book about Sickness, riots, rising up against the privileged people, homeless, death, Teenagers who were all runaways that left home early. Came from poor families and had ruff home situations. About civil unrest and corruption could have been a fantastic story if the writing was good and if there had been more of a connection to the characters, more details, and more content.

I was left with far too many questions and uncertainties! Like- What the hell was the point with the Lynx? What happened to the characters Cathy, Paige, Ian and many others? When a character left the book that was it for them. They were mentioned a few times by Daphne but really no conclusion as to what happened to them. I was sad about that. Also, why were there so many homeless? And so on...

I wish there would have been more to this. A lot more! I would have liked to have finished the book with a better understanding of the world too. To not have been left feeling like NOTHING was resolved. Plus I wasn't a fan of the way the author ended it...?.

[Pradeepa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever felt that you don’t belong to the world to which you are forced into?

Daphne, a rich young teenager, completely kept away from the real world in her big home with her only friend Cathy, her designer. She had to suddenly escape her home as it was set on fire during riots and she finds herself suddenly living with strange people from the outside world and that is when the reality stuck her that there are so many people without money or school or people to protect them and there exits a totally different world from her own. However, as she had always wanted to explore outside of her own world, she takes this opportunity to explore and find her own character.

Few of the characters were left out without any conclusion. But I think that is what the author would have wanted, to make our own conclusions.

My Rating : 3/5

[Benoit Lelièvre · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read that think like a man possessed. Three or four sittings over 48 jours, maybe? This novel is very successful despite its lesser point because it was both insanely readable, understated and intelligent. Some of you might be repelled by the YA apocalypse angle, but let me reassure you, I've never seen it played so metaphorically. THE GILDED LYNX is, first and foremost, a coming of age novel about a pampered young girl ushered into womanhood by circumstances and struggling with immaterial yet pertinent issues such as identity, reality, determinism and objectification.

I'm SO not into YA novels usually, but THE GILDED LYNX is a different animal. This is not a novel about being special and having a destiny. It's a novel about discovering the opposite and making peace with it. To paraphrase Anthony Fantano, this is a strong 4 to a light 5, but I'm giving the benefit of the doubt here to a novel who addresses me like I'm an intelligent person. I have a soft spot for these.

[Sam Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recieved this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book presents itself as a coming of age novel. About a young teenager who is sheltered from the outside world, and wants the chance to experience it. It is about a mother who has set out the be the best she can be, but in the process neglected her daughter. It is about learning the world is not black and white; that all ‘good’ is tainted with ‘evil’.

I don’t know exactly what I was expecting after reading the synopsis, but I know I got much more than I thought. Daphne is extremely naive, sheltered child when we first meet her, and we get to watch her grow up.

For me, the characters were well described, and played an integral role in Daphne’s story. The romantic in me was hoping for a little more resolution in the disappearance of her father, but overall an excellent book.

I will admit that the first few chapters took a little for me to get into, but it was well worth the effort.

[roxi Net · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn’t read a coming of age novel in such a long time and I’m so glad I came across The Gilded Lynx since it was strange blend of coming of age within a dystopian setting.

Daphne, a 14 year old living a life of lonely privilege, escapes her home when it’s set ablaze during riots and finds herself suddenly living with a group of strange young people with no money, no work, no school and no family. Always wanting to explore outside of her world, she gets her wish and comes to find her way through love and expression through art.

I had expected it to be a bit more descriptive of why there were so many homeless, what is The Sickness and how Daphne’s world got to be the way it was, but instead it focused on Daphne herself, an intelligent, young grown-up who’s live comes crashing to a halt not once, but twice.

[Fawaaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is all about a girl trying to find her own character while trying to escape the character other people close to her are wanting her to be. The story starts off slow giving us some or little of her background but not much. A confused minor and wrongly guided by thoughts and past memories. The story becomes a bit over whelming like a husband and wife arguing all the time. Betrayal, hustling, backstabbing and drama all in the book. Mostly predictable at times and just to the point like it is today. At some point later in the book this felt like another west world where characters are born by humans like they are robots and they are being studied. Then all the pieces are put together and you start to see the big picture. This book is somewhat unique and different. Some sci-fi involved but a good read.

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, i made it through 40% of this book before giving up on it. I think i deserve some credit for that considering i had no idea what the book was about. There were wild animals loose in the streets, riots and fires in the cities, class warfare, some strange disease.... and that's about all i gleaned from it. At some point i'm sure it will all make sense, but i got impatient waiting for at least one thing to resolve or be explained. The one bad thing about e-books is you don't get the satisfaction of hearing a book go THUNK into the waste basket when you get fed up with it. Imagine a thunk at this point.

[Helena#bookdreamer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I had a difficult time getting into this sci fi , dystopian novel. Daphne is an insecure, young girl navigating a troubled world where wild animals roam free and people are fighting against each other. Amoung this chaos the author spends a good portion focusing on the dysfunctional relationship between Daphne and her movie star mother. It was slow to pick up and when it did the story felt flat. I couldn't connect with the characters. Just not for me.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gilded Lynx opens up once the trouble has already began but no one is sure exactly what the 'trouble' is quite yet. Daphne is the privileged, fourteen year old daughter of a wealthy CEO, who skips class to wander around town and that is how the reader gets their first glance at what the world in this story is like. I loved the opening and was drawn into the muted chaos right away. I didn't connect to the characters at first as much as I did the state of the world, the apocalyptic abyss everyone fears so much. It certainly was not because the characters were badly written because they weren't but the psychology of people during times of turmoil is a fascination of mine in literature. This book though, goes beyond in terms of the dynamics between human beings and how unthinkable revelations can shock you into a different viewpoint on their whole lives. Leah Erickson is a very talented writer and I'm looking forward to reading more of her work.

[Beth Younge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book of two halves and I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. It started off as a dystopian novel but two-thirds of the way through it, it stopped being dystopian and reverted back to the 'normal' for that place. Daphne was a complex main character and towards the end, she made some choices I disagreed with. She was never written as being 100% unlikable but instead, Erickson offered us a character that shift between being a figure we want to root for to one where you are going "what the actual hell are you doing?". It's a good book but it's unsure of itself.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!

I’ve added this book to be in my favorites, for me to read again and again. It’s exactly the type of book I like, and it totally held up to the expectations I had. I don’t want to spoil anything about the book so I’ll just say, from the beginning to end, I was enthralled and I couldn’t stop reading! It made me want MORE. I can’t stress how much I loved this story. The premise of the rich girl having to withstand an epidemic makes for a great story. 10/10 would recommend

[Kerry Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Invasive

More coming of age than dystopian, not really my bag but I was fooled by the cover. That being said, I finished the book. The characters are well drawn, I wanted to know what happened to Daphne.
The dystopean universe is not convincing it seemed to bend to progress the narrative but that is the authors prerogative. Although there were no flat spots I felt the tale was a little too long and a bit light in the concluding chapters. Maybe I just didn't get it.
For those who enjoy the genre, this is a good read. I recommend it.

[Shima · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from the publisher in exchange of an honest review.
I'm not a part of net gallery, so when opportunity for a review comes along, I always get extremely exited. This time I must admit was a little different, it fell exactly during my move to another continent. At times like this, I tend to surround myself with my old favorite books, or at least new fantasy ones.
So I kept putting off reading this book, the synopsis didn't feel like my cup of tea and I was sick of anything dystopian. It's not often I have to force myself to start a book, but this was one of them .

I must say I was pleasantly surprised. If like me you feel like you've read more than your life's share of dystopian, don't worry. The dystopian aspect of the book is barely there. Just enough to give you the pleasant sense of creepiness, where everything is somehow just a little off. It doesn't try to overwhelm you with world building or history. It lets you gradually see bits and pieces of the book alongside the character's journey.

Now the character is what this book is really about. If you've ever felt lost, if you've ever felt like you don't even know who you are, there is a pretty good chance you'll resonate with Daphne. The pleasant thing about her characterization is that the author doesn't try to feed you all the information. She doesn't say Daphne decided to do this because... You have to form your own conclusions, you have to think about her motives.

There is a plot going on alongside Daphne's story regarding her father, and sure there is a reveal at the end, but it's both overlooked and seemingly less important than Daphne's character growth. It was so little than it seemed you could easily remove it alongside the dystopian aspect of the book, yet I think those were the things that made this book to a higher ground than just any coming of age story. However there should have been a bit more closure regarding her dad.

This isn't the kind of book you just can't put down, it's the kind of book you calmly read and then think about. If you're looking for a rush, this isn't your book. If you're looking for something different this is it.

The writing did bother me from time to time because it tends to jump between POVs with no warning, so that sometimes I read a paragraph thinking it was from Daphne's POV only to realize it was from Cathy's or Paige or someone else's. But except for that it did a good job of flowing well with the story.

Overall I enjoyed reading it, It was different from what I'm used to or what I expected and thankfully it exceeded my first impression of another cliche dystopian novel pretty nicely.

[Inge Kestlmeier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coming of age story that will pull you into Daphne's scary new world... Experience with her the wonders of standing on your own, first love and family secrets....

I was absorbed into this new world ~ Leah Erickson has talent to keep me intrigued with new characters and new twist and turns... couldn't stop turning the pages !